An (Im)Perfect Match

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating is the best book about dating I’ve read in quite some time. This is likely because the main characters, as the title suggests, do not date. Rather, each seemingly content in their friendship sets the other up with a series of – surprise! – unsuccessful blind dates. 

While researching Christina Lauren, I was surprised to learn that Lauren is the pen name for writing duo Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. This dynamic duo has clearly found their singular voice. Great minds think alike as it were. I’ve since read a few other Christina Laurens and will no doubt read their entire bibliography. Their characters are relatable in their imperfection. Each has wants and desires but must balance those hopes with the inevitable fear of failure.

Some readers may see Hazel’s quirkiness as over the top, exaggerated for effect. But as someone who converses in heavy-handed sarcasm, a plethora of movie and TV quotes and who rarely finds reason to be anyone other than exactly who I am, Hazel was a breath of fresh air. And Josh, well, he seems pretty perfect at first glance, but he carries emotional baggage and familial pressures with him everywhere he goes. The inevitable happy ending is evident from the first chapter, but the predictability does not diminish the enjoyment of the journey. 

We All Come From Away

The fact that digesting Come From Away is a challenge I have been working through for six weeks is a testament to the complexity and brilliance that is Come From Away. On its’ face, the story is a relatively simple, if surprising, one for a musical: in the aftermath of the September 11^th attacks, dozens of planes were diverted to Newfoundland and the town of Gander welcomes the grounded “plane people.” Do not be fooled. What Irene Sankoff and David Hein managed to pack into this 100 minute musical is nothing short of remarkable. 

Come From Away has successfully shaken the “musical about 9/11” baggage. And, after seeing the show, it’s easy to see why. While the attacks of September 11^th serve as the impetus for the interaction of these characters, the show is definitively not about 9/11. Come From Away is about the heart and humanity that lives within all of us and the fact that challenges often bring out the best in us. Sankoff and Hein could have hovered near the surface of the inevitable language barriers and culture clashes, but they dove in. Touching on diversity, inclusivity, politics and religion with genuine humor and even more heart, Sankoff and Hein have designed one of the most unique musicals in recent history.

Critical to the success of any show is the music and Sankoff and Hein’s music and lyrics are refreshing. Using the customary Newfoundland sound, the songs are at once traditional and yet revolutionary for a Broadway musical. My obsession with “Me and the Sky” and “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere” shows no sign of abating. “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere” is particularly poetic. With uplifting lyrics, a couple of incredible belts from Capt. Bass and a chorus sung by the entire company, it’s impossible not to feel almost physically elevated off the ground:

    Somewhere in between the pace of life and work and where you're going 

something makes you stop and notice and you're finally in the moment! 

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, 

in the middle of who knows 

where (who knows where), there you'll find

Something in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of clear blue air

You found your heart, but left a part of you behind

If the sound of Come From Away is powerful, equally as strong is the set and the choreography between and among the cast and the set. With just a couple of tables and some chairs, the set acts as a multitude of locations: school, airplane, Tim Horton’s and the Dover Fault to name a few. The set transitions happen at the hands of the cast members and each movement is choreographed to the nanosecond. There are moments wherein a delay would result in a fellow cast member face first on the stage but, fear not, the touring cast is up to the challenge.

Just as the set functions for a myriad of locations, all actors portray multiple characters. The adeptness required to become a completely different character with a quick, on stage wardrobe change and then switch back moments later cannot be underestimated. And while Come From Away is perhaps the most true ensemble musical to come along in many years, each performer has moments to shine, and shine they do. But rather than shine above their fellow actors, as sometimes happens during solo passages, each actor seems to bring about a brightening of the entire stage. Come From Away is a small cast – just twelve actors - but because they represent 15,000 people, a certain strength is required. When the full cast sings together, the melody and harmony fills the theater and practically bursts through the ceiling. 

There is one lyric in particular that seems to sum up the show itself: Whether you come from Toledo or you come from Taipei because we all come from everywhere, we all come from away. It perfectly underscores the theme of Come From Away. When we put aside what makes us different we recognize what was true all along, that we are all one human race. 

Please Sir, I Want Some More

The stars aligned this month: I was able to see fourteen live shows. From lectures and television tapings to stand up comedy and Broadway shows, I hit just about all of the genres. Yes, I fully recognize that I am incredibly lucky. Exhaustion as a result of seeing so many shows is the very definition of a first world problem. Rather than select just one show about which to write, I decided to succinctly recap each one. Like a tweet, only not, because I don’t tweet. Though I’ve heard the young’uns are moving on to some new-fangled business called TikTok.

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular – High kicks. Live camels. Baby Jesus and Santa Claus? Yes, yes indeed.

Tootsie – Santino Fontana won the Tony Award for this role and there is simply no argument against it. 

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – Colbert seems to genuinely appreciate his audience, taking the time to address them and answer a few questions. He clearly enjoys his job and he has a comfort level that is reassuring. 

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon – Fallon, not so much. I love SNL-era Jimmy Fallon, but I have yet to get on board with his Tonight Show hosting gig and this did not convince me. His complete lack of interaction with the audience left me pining for Stephen.

Hadestown – While not drawn to tears as the person behind me was, I nonetheless enjoyed the show from soup to nuts. The effect of the set ostensibly coming apart at the seams is incredible. 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two – Truly theater magic. Magic wands, flying dementors, time travel, I do not know how they do it.

Kathleen Madigan – Pointing out life's absurdities with dry humor and quick wit. What's not to like?

Jesus Christ Superstar – I grew up not so much in a God-fearing household as in a God as fodder for sarcasm household, so I am not familiar with the details of the storyline (other than the end). To say I did not follow the plot is an understatement. King Herod stole the show. Is the Bible full of big, drag-style musical numbers? Maybe I should give it a look. 

National Geographic Live with Dr. Kara Cooney – Say what? King Tut’s tomb may have been first created for a female king? 

Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me – What a shame that the almost two and a half hours of pure comic genius has to be edited down to a little less than an hour to air on NPR. Solid gold panelists Paula Poundstone and Mo Rocca did not disappoint and Negin Farsad held her own - pooping without notification is now a permanent part of my everyday language.

Trampled by Turtles – This show revealed my age: when the music started my first reaction was that it was too loud. Trampled are incredibly talented musicians. Almost all of the songs in their set had a driving momentum that did not allow for any moments of peace - the fact that they play that fast for that long is rather unbelievable.. What’s that? Oh, just my younger self calling me, wanting to know why peace is necessary at a concert. Just you wait, younger self.

The Office Musical Parody – Any show that parodies a classic comedy must be absolutely spot on, this was not.

Come From Away – Sweeps you off your feet, takes you to a place far away and gently sets you back down, the same person but changed. Full review coming soon.

The Kitch Lit Series: Wild Game

I devoured Wild Game (pun intended) over the course of about a day and a half. Rarely does a book cross my nightstand that I consider hard to put down. You would not believe the crap friends gave me for putting down Harry Potter with only one chapter left, but that is how I roll. A book is easy to put down when sleep is waiting on the other half of the pillow. Such is not the case with Adrienne Brodeur’s Wild Game; it demands your attention. 

Brodeur’s memoir is equal parts heartbreaking and life affirming. At the center of the book is Brodeur’s relationship with her mother, Malabar. Malabar is larger than life, caring for others but never able to truly put anyone ahead of herself. Adrienne and Malabar’s relationship is changed forever when Malabar wakes teenager Adrienne in the middle of the night to tell that she is having an affair with family friend Ben Souther. Adrienne becomes complicit in the lies, an ally and an alibi. One of the ways in which Malabar, a talented home cook, and Ben spend time with each other in the presence of their spouses is planning and testing recipes for a wild game cookbook. And the lies continue for years. Adrienne comes of age with an incredible weight on her shoulders, but the responsibility also binds mother and daughter in an entirely unique way. Can Adrienne interpret Malabar’s willingness to confide in her a true sign of her mother’s love? The path Brodeur, her mother and their families’ take is full of twists and turns. To reveal too much would be to deprive you of the opportunity to step into their lives as their stories unfold.

Brodeur is an incredibly engaging writer. The anticipation of what is to come is palpable; the pages practically turn themselves. In less that capable hands, an interesting life does not translate to a good book. Brodeur is, thankfully, incredibly adept at putting emotion onto the page and, without caricature, explores the flawed humanity of those around her in a way that is entirely relatable from one angle or another.

The affirmation in Wild Game comes from the fact that this is not revisionist history. Brodeur must reconcile with her mother’s flaws, and, in the process, with the imperfections inherent in humanity. Wild Game reads like fiction. The fact that it is a memoir gives you pause. While reading Wild Game, one cannot help but hold a mirror up to their own life. Smart, well-written and engaging, Wild Game beautifully combines all of the ingredients of a great memoir. 

A True Story

Andrew Smith may be the most unassuming name for a superb writer, but, alas, brilliance thy name is Andrew Smith. A prolific writer with an unmatched ability to blend the absolutely typical with the completely out of this world, Smith will, if we are lucky, continue to put his words out into the world.

I first learned about Andrew Smith from a brief review of Grasshopper Jungle. Intrigued by the book's concept, I checked it out from the library and devoured it over the course of two evenings. As is my pattern, I then proceeded to read everything else Smith published. Winger and 100 Miles Sideways were standouts. Some of his other books are a little trippy for my taste, but a well-written book is readable even if the subject matter is not as engaging as one hopes. In last year’s Rabbit and Robot, one of characters is Maurice, a bisexual talking giraffe with a French accent. Thus it was with both excitement and a small amount of trepidation that I approached Exile From Eden, the continuation of the Grasshopper Jungle story. 

Where Grasshopper Jungle is the story of Austin and Robby, who unwittingly unleash a plague of giant, deadly praying mantises in Iowa, Exile From Eden follows Arec, Austin’s teenage son, who does not remember a world before the plague of the unstoppable army. Eden is the underground safe haven in which he has grown up both uninhibited and sheltered at the same time. Arec may live with a certain freedom that a lack of societal norms allows, but his grandmother, who runs Eden with an iron fist, remembers the “rules”. And her rules cause Arec to question everything he has come to know. 

When Austin and Robby do not return from an aboveground excursion, Arec decides he must find them. Not only that, but he needs to leave Eden; the pull of possibility is too strong to resist. Unbeknownst to Arec, a fellow child of Eden, Mel, hides out in his van in order to join his search team. Mel and Arec grew up together, absent the societal constraints pressed upon pre-unstoppable army kids, but always with Arec’s grandmother there to remind them. Mel and Arec are coming of age and their hormones begin to rage in ways that they both struggle to comprehend but also understand in the purest way.

Alongside the story of Arec and Mel’s mission is the story of a younger kid named Breakfast and his companion Olive. Breakfast and Olive are surviving in the post-unstoppable army world without the protection and comforts of a place like Eden. Breakfast is wild and wily in a way only a child growing up with the complete absence of structure can be. As the plot propels Arec and Mel and Breakfast and Olive forward, each pair is similarly on the move, to the next safe place, to the next source of gasoline or fresh clothes. The story continues, each pair encounters some fellow survivors and unstoppable soldiers, but to reveal too much about the plot here would be to rob you of the enjoyment of seeing the story unfold as Smith intended.

The setting of Exile From Eden may be fictional but the humanity in the characters is undeniably real. It's impossible not to respect Smith’s ability to articulate the myriad of emotions required for human existence - pre or post-unstoppable army. Exile From Eden does not lack resolution, but I am certainly hopeful that there is more to this story, that Arec and Mel and Breakfast and Olive continue to adapt and evolve, learning and relearning how to recreate a world forever changed. 

Not Like It Was Before

Bandstand opened and closed on Broadway on 2017, but, despite its' short run, the show garnered a Tony nomination for Best Orchestrations and won the Tony for Best Choreography. A perfect show it is not, however, Bandstand deserves praise for addressing issues not typically found in the plot of a Broadway musical and the strength of the choreography elevates the entire show.

Bandstand is an original musical from Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor, directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. It follows Donny, a recently returned WWII veteran. A singer/songwriter, Donny struggles to find his footing in post-WWII America, and decides to participate in a national songwriting competition and enlists fellow veterans to join him. Along the way, each veteran copes with the effects of war in their own way and with varied levels of success.

Zack Zaromatidis leads a talented touring cast. As Donny, Zaromatidis skillfully conveys the wide-ranging emotions Donny experiences upon returning home to a place that does not feel like home anymore. Jennifer Elizabeth Smith is Julia Trojan, recently widowed, whose husband served with Donny joins the guys on stage. Julia instantly clicks with the band and soon enough the Donny Nova Band featuring Julia Trojan is playing clubs all over Cleveland, and, eventually to New York City. There are moments wherein the plot could have taken more risks, but certain choices must be commended. For instance, when the inevitable romance sparks between Donny and Julia, it does not take over the plot, rather, it simply folds into the fabric of their healing. The members of the Donny Nova Band play their own instruments on stage, and while some are more natural actors than others, each brings an excellent level of musical talent. The ensemble is strong as well, working incredibly hard to propel the story and create the feel of the show while belying the athleticism required to perform Blankenbuehler’s choreography.  

Blankenbuehler’s choreography is as integral to the show as any of the characters. And Bandstand is definitively Blankenbuehler. Each dancer seems to grow six inches on stage because his choreography elongates the body. The fluidity, stretch and dimension in the movements is incredible. Not only that, but Blankenbuehler’s choreography helps to tell the story rather than simply comment on the story. The ensemble of dancers transports the audience from the foxholes of WWII, to the clubs of Cleveland, to the hustle and bustle of New York City. 

For Donny, Julia and their bandmates, life is not - and never will be - the way it was before the war. And their acceptance that it never will be allows the healing process to begin. When Donny tells Julia to "sing because you just need to sing," he is not only speaking of singing, and he is not talking only to Julia.

The Kitch Lit Series: Dessert?

There is no good explanation as to why there are Easter-hued cupcakes on the cover of When in Doubt, Add Butter. You see, Gemma is a personal chef, not a baker. But sugar sells, in the cereal aisle and on bookshelves, so, I suppose, to place blame for this red herring would be to blame myself, the sugar-hungry consumer.

Gemma Craig is single in her late thirties (meaning, still quite young, but too old to conform to societal norms) and she leads a quiet life. She truly loves cooking for a living, though it may not be as financially lucrative as some other options. Gemma maintains a close relationship with a fellow chef/server and her cousin who lives nearby, but her circle of trust is pretty small and coupledom is not part of her MO. Gemma lives vicariously through her clients and focuses her time providing sustenance to others rather than nurturing herself.

We meet Gemma's clients and learn their food proclivities and peculiarities. There’s the uberwealthy family whose matriarch is seemingly allergic to anything with flavor, the potential Russian mobsters, homebound Willa and a mysterious man, "Mr. Tuesday," with whom she communicates solely through short notes left on the kitchen counter. They seem to share a similar sense of humor and would likely get along, but they never cross paths. Not knowingly, anyway. The plot relies on several very coincidental circumstances, but it is such a fun, breezy read that the contrivance is easily accepted. 

When in Doubt, Add Butter is kitch lit lite. The focus is not really on the food or the profession of cooking, but that is not a surprise. Harbison does not pretend to set out to make a book focused solely on the craft of cooking. Gemma’s takes a risk one evening that leads her down a path that is equal parts familiar and uncharted territory. By the end of the book, Gemma’s circle of trust has grown like a soufflé baking in the oven and her journey is just as deliciously light and fun.